Pavlich v. Martinez
How Employment after Injury Effects Exposure for Employers under Iowa Code § 85.34(2)(v) The Iowa District Court of Polk County issued a ruling on April 21, 2021 in the case of Pavlich v. Martinez, Case No. CVCV060634. The case gained attention primarily due to the...
Personal Injury Law Changes in Iowa
The Governor of Iowa recently signed into law an amendment to Iowa Code section 85.61(7) adding section (c) which states “Personal injuries due to idiopathic or unexplained falls from a level surface onto the same level surface do not arise out of and in the course of...
Revisiting the Main Components for a Compensable Claim: Whether an Accident “Arises Out of” and “In the Course of Employment.”
To recover benefits under the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act, an employee must establish by a preponderance of the evidence (more than 50%) that the accident both arose out of and was in the course of his or her employment. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-101; Logsdon v....
Penalties
The penalty provisions of the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act can be stiff, but with diligent investigation and effective communication, they are easily avoidable. The primary penalties are 50% waiting time penalties on indemnity benefits and attorney’s fees. The...
First Report of Injury
Nebraska’s workers’ compensation laws require employers to file a First Report of Alleged Occupational Injury or Illness, commonly referred to as a First Report of Injury or FROI, within ten days of the employer receiving notice of an injury. A reportable injury is...
LOSS OF EARNING CAPACITY
LOSS OF EARNING CAPACITY Our blog post from December 19, 2017, discussed the various types of indemnity benefits owed to injured workers in Nebraska. This blog will discuss loss of earning capacity (LOEC) in greater detail. When an injured worker sustains a whole body...
Calculation of Indemnity Benefits
The indemnity benefits owed to an injured worker under the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act fall into four separate categories. The four categories, which are found in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-121, are: (1) Temporary Total Disability; (2) Temporary Partial Disability;...
Calculating the Average Weekly Wage
Properly calculating the average weekly wage (“AWW”) is one of the more important aspects in evaluating a workers’ compensation claim. Knowing an injured worker’s AWW is necessary to properly calculate benefit payments and future exposure on a claim. Further,...
Injury While Walking Did Not Arise Out of Employment
Charles Kuper recently secured an Order of Dismissal in the case of Loeffler v. Columbus Public Schools. The sole issue in the case was whether the employee suffered an accident that arose out of her employment when she fell as she was walking because her sandal...
Kuper Successfully Defends Appeal of an Order of Dismissal
In the case of Hamilton v. UPS, attorney Charles Kuper successfully defended UPS against an appeal from an Order of Dismissal entered by the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court. Hamilton filed a Petition alleging he was permanently and totally disabled due to...